A key BMW dealer in China expects to ‘suffer’ before rebound
Sime Darby also sells the German luxury vehicles in eight other markets, including Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia
[NEW YORK] Sime Darby, one of the main dealerships in China for BMW, expects things to get worse before sales of the German luxury vehicles rebound in the cut-throat Chinese auto market.
The China market “will sort itself out”, Sime Darby chief executive officer Jeffri Salim Davidson said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Malaysia’s Selangor state. “We just have to hunker down for one to two years. We are going to suffer, but we will continue and bounce back with BMW.”
Deliveries of BMW cars in China dropped 14 per cent in the second quarter amid an extended price war and fierce competition in the world’s biggest automobile market.
Sime Darby has, however, shuttered some 15 non-BMW dealerships and cut eight brands from its Chinese showrooms to optimise costs, Jeffri said. In addition to BMWs, Sime Darby will continue to sell Volvo, Hyundai Motor’s Genesis and Kia vehicles. Its website previously listed Lamborghini and Tesla among the brands it sold in China.
Representatives for BMW China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Losses for Sime Darby’s dealership and after-sales service business in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan widened to RM140 million (S$43 million) for the latest financial year ended June 2025. That compared to a RM123 million loss the previous year.
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Sime Darby also sells BMWs in eight other markets, including Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.
The Malaysian conglomerate’s China motors division will maintain its 22 BMW dealerships in the country for now, Jeffri said.
The company’s shares suffered their biggest drop in more than a decade following muted earnings in May, but pared losses after its fourth quarter results in late August. Shares were down 8.9 per cent year-to-date at the close on Thursday (Sep 11), while the benchmark stock index declined 3.6 per cent.
China’s campaign to stop unhealthy competition in sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels could gradually improve BMW’s position in the market, Kenanga Research analyst Wan Mustaqim Wan Ab Aziz said in a note in late August.
Separately, as one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers, Sime Darby will continue to benefit from Australia’s robust mining industry. “Australia has some of the best and most efficient mines,” Jeffri added.
In Malaysia, the company’s carmaker and distributor unit UMW Holdings, which it acquired in 2023, is expected to debut its first EVs under the Perodua brand by the end of the year. It will be Malaysia’s second locally-made EV brand after Geely Automobile Holdings-backed local carmaker Proton, which rolled out its first EVs in late 2024.
Jeffri expects EVs to initially be a niche product in Malaysia due to their higher costs compared with traditional petrol vehicles and hybrid battery automobiles. BLOOMBERG
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